Columba or Colmcille was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey on Iona, which became a dominant religious and political institution in the region for centuries. He is the patron saint of Derry. He was highly regarded by both the Gaels of Dál Riata and the Picts, and is remembered today as a Catholic saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Saint Columba, Apostle to the Picts
The remains of St. Columba's Church, Gartan, County Donegal.
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its only land border, which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,436,600 and accounts for 8% of the population of the UK. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the largest of the cities of Scotland.
Skara Brae, Europe's most complete Neolithic village, occupied from roughly 3180 BC – 2500 BC
Callanish Stones, erected in the late Neolithic era
King of Scots Robert I addresses his troops before the Battle of Bannockburn. Drawing from c. 1900.
James VI, King of Scotland, succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603.